Imaginary
by Seren147
Summary: Lying in bed, Ryou reflects both on how his life with Bakura is and how he would like it to be. Not tendershipping - gaspeth!


This is my first YGO fic so please be kind! But all reviews are welcome and encouraged...thank you! Oh, and I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, so don't ask. Ok, now on to the story!

* * *

**_Imaginary_**

* * *

"Ohhhh..." Ryou opened his eyes and looked at the clock. It was nearly noon. Bakura would be angry that he had slept so long. He yawned softly and then laid his head back on his pillow. He could hear the rain pitter-patter outside.

'I'm tired of this. I'm so tired. Everything about me is drained. When will it end? What more do I have to give?' Ryou closed his eyes.

Everything was always the same. No matter how hard he tried, it was never good enough. Nothing he ever did was ever good enough for Bakura. He went out of his way most of the time, he got up early to make them both breakfast, he sped when he drove to school so Bakura wouldn't curse his cowardliness, he even shunned his friends because Bakura hated them.

'What more does he want? Nothing I do ever pleases him. I'm tired of taking orders from him.' Ryou sighed and got out of bed. 'Just another day in Hell, I guess. Lucky me.'

Still in his sleeping clothes, Ryou stumbled sleepily to the door.

'God I'm so tired. I just need to...to...rest. Just a little while longer. That dream I was having was so, so...good. It was like old times...me and yuge and the gang...I was actually happy...'

Ryou looked back at the clock. 11:52 AM, it read. 'Maybe Bakura will still be asleep...' he thought, wishfully. But in his heart he knew differently. 'God, I can't take this! I just want my old life back! I want this to be a nightmare that I wake up from and for the dream that I just had to really be my life again! Not the other way around! What did I ever do to deserve this!' Lines of anger etched itself onto Ryou's smooth face. 'I hate him so much!'

Anger took over the fear that he felt at what Bakura might do to him for waking up late. 'This time I'm doing things my way! Fuck him! I'm going back to where I belong.' Ryou made his way back to his bed and lay down upon it again. He closed his eyes and tried to find his way back into his dream. He looked so peaceful, lying there...

A smile made it's way onto Ryou's face. He was asleep, back in his world. He saw Yugi come up to him and ask if he wanted to come over to the game shop after school where they would hold a small duel monsters tournament. 'Sure, yugi,' Ryou said in his dream. 'I'd love to...'

On his pillow, Ryou's head turned to the other side. He smiled again and then murmured softly, "Wow Yugi, that was a great game...I can't believe I actually won..."Ryou's hand came up and rested on his pillow. His white hair stuck up over it. "You're such a good friend..."Ryou said.

"A good friend, eh?" Someone stood in the doorway. Bakura. "We'll see how many good friends come to your rescue when I get through with you." With that he made his way towards Ryou, still dreaming.

Bakura stood over the sleeping Ryou. "Fool. Coward." He softly said, looking down at Ryou.

"Why can't you ever learn that your friends will never be there for you? They are nothing. Just like you." With that, he yanked the pillow out from under Ryou's head and quickly held it over his head. Ryou was yanked out of his dream and into harsh reality. His eyes popped open and he saw Bakura standing over him with a pillow a split second before that same pillow came crashing down on his face.

"Bakura! No!" he tried to say, but the pillow found it's way into his mouth too. "Stop!" He flailed his arms and legs about, trying to get out from under the suffocating substance.

"Fool!" Bakura yelled at him "This will teach you to disobey me! This will teach you to have faith, to have friends, to dream!" Bakura's eyes were full of rage and he was almost hysterical.

He yanked the pillow off of Ryou's face and delivered a punch in it's wake.

"Bakura..." Ryou pleaded. "Please stop..."

"Why should I?" Bakura answered, "This is too much fun." With that he grabbed Ryou and yanked him off of the bed. Ryou landed with a thud on the hardwood floor, and received several kicks to his stomach and one to his face. His nose started bleeding and he forgot the rage that he had felt at Bakura earlier. Now there was only fear again.

"Bakura, please, I..I..I'll do anything you want me to!" Ryou pleaded again.

Bakura stopped kicking him and bent down, in Ryou's face. "That's not good enough" he said, "for what do you have that I could possibly want? There is nothing you could do for me or give to me!" He threw back his head and laughed. "No, you will obey me, hikari" he spat "or else." With that, he grabbed Ryou by the hair and banged his head against the floorboards. The cut on his forehead opened again and started bleeding down his face. "No..." Ryou softly said to himself "No..."

Bakura grabbed his hair and started pulling him out of the room. "There's no one to hear you here, fool" he said "Where are your friends now? Hahahahahaha!"

Ryou could feel darkness threatening to take him over. He willed that unconsciousness to swallow him up. Anything was better then being where he was now.

'In my heart, Bakura, that's where my friends are.' Ryou thought. 'Where are yours?' After thinking that, Ryou closed his eyes and the pain seemed to pass away.

Although Bakura didn't know it, he did Ryou a favor by knocking him out. From there, from that darkness, Ryou escaped the nightmare that he had to endure every waking moment. He was once again released, back to where he wanted to be.

"Hahahahahaha" Bakura ranted. "I once again proved that you are nothing but a weak coward! You can't even take a little pain! Once again, I prove how superior I am over you!" He laughed again, but then soon stopped short when he noticed something.

"What's this...?" he said softly, bending down over Ryou's bleeding body. Ryou was smiling.

~fin~

* * *

Ok, that's the end of that! I wrote this fic a long time ago and have just revised it...I should have put a happy ending! Poor Ryou! Alas, though, I chose to leave the plot as it originally was. Thanks for reading!

~Seren147


End file.
